Public Affairs

Not long ago, economist Robert Fairlie was curious about whether the influx of immigrants to California was prompting the parents of native-born schoolchildren to pull their children from public schools and enroll them in private schools. Like any good social scientist, Fairlie did some preliminary research to explore the question and was intrigued by what…

Many of those who established subject endowments attended the December event at McHenry Library. Pictured in front of the wall bearing their names are: (Back row, l-r) Merryl Cicourel, Michael Clark, Marion Taylor, Charles and Jean Engel, Ton and Thelma Jue, Rolf Augustine, committee chair Lynn Stegner, and University Librarian Allan Dyson. (Front row, l-r):…

Molecular biologist Harry Noller’s work using X-ray crystallography to reveal three-dimensional images of the inner workings of ribosomes made Science magazine’s list of likely areas for promising breakthroughs in 1998. The San Jose Mercury News picked up the story and included Noller in an end-of-the-year preview of coming science attractions. Economist Manuel Pastor of Latin…

University of California President Richard C. Atkinson has selected UC Merced as the name for the university’s proposed 10th campus. The campus is scheduled to open its doors to students in 2005. Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, UC’s vice provost for academic initiatives, made the formal announcement at a ceremony at the Merced County Courthouse Museum in December.…

Having problems with your two-wheeler? Come down to the Recreation Office porch at the East Field House and have the expert bike maintenance specialists check it out. Drop-in bicycle maintenance will be open for the campus community on Fridays from 2 to 5 p.m. January 16 through March 13. For further information, contact Matt Brower…

Zhiwu Zhu: Assistant Professor of Biology Zhiwu Zhu will become a faculty member in the planned Environmental Toxicology Department when that degree program is established. He uses yeast cells to study the biochemistry and molecular biology of metal ions such as copper, which can trigger disease at abnormal levels. Zhu earned his B.S. from Nanjing…

Holly Kunze, assistant specialist with the Institute of Marine Sciences, died as the result of an accident on January 2; she was 35. She worked with researchers Marcia Gowing and David Garrison on an Antarctic project identifying microscopic plants important in the food web. Ms. Kunze had a master’s degree in marine sciences from SUNY-Stony…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Economist Lori Kletzer of the University of California, Santa Cruz, has received a prestigious career advancement award from the National Science Foundation to explore the disparity in the economic status of black and white women. Kletzer, an assistant professor of economics at UCSC, will conduct an in-depth examination of the roles of family…

Chancellor Greenwood is scheduled to return on Saturday, January 10, from India, where she led a delegation in late December with the aim of forging collaborations and academic interchange between institutions in India and UCSC. Accompanying the chancellor are leading campus administrators and faculty. The delegation has met with a number of India’s top political…

Whether from television, a visit to a doctor, or a trip to the local emergency room, most Americans catch a glimpse of the world of medicine at an early age. Yet few people get to see the basic research that gives medicine its foundation. This lack of exposure is one of the factors that drives…

Economist Michael Hutchison’s timely commentary on Japan’s banking crisis ran in the Santa Cruz County Sentinel, which also published a letter to the editor from environmental scientist Rich Howarth, who critiqued the paper’s stance on global warming. Dickens Project director John Jordan was interviewed by NPR’s Ira Glass. Glass spoke to Jordan on the topic…

A retreat for campus managers will be held on Tuesday, January 13. The purpose of the retreat is to discuss institutional goals, foster cooperative efforts, and share insights of the reatreat with the Millennium Committee. The retreat is being coordinated by Linda Kittle, head of the retreat planning committee. "This is the first time we…